Chinese e-commerce and e-payment giant Alibaba and its subsidiary Alipay are planning to launch a new service that uses facial recognition technology to make online payments.
The new service, called Smile To Pay, will enable users to pay for goods by scanning their face with a smartphone.
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The platform will be developed by Ant Financial, an Alibaba affiliate, for use with the company’s Alipay online payment service and Alipay Wallet.
The platform, which is still under development, will initially be launched in China but no specific date has been finalized for the official launch.
The service has been developed in partnership with a Beijing company Megvii, a provider of cloud-based facial recognition service, according to PCWorld.
Additionally, Alibaba is planning to launch a new solution called Trigger ‘Kong Fu’ that will allow consumers to verify payment by scanning something like a tattoo or even a pet.
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By GlobalDataThe company also plans to develop new verification techniques to set the pace in the mobile payment system.
